These were a bit of a challenge to make! Im used to straight lines, I mean just straight no turning the fabric! But I wanted to challenge myself, plus thats the only way I can get better with sewing. The way it scrunches up like that in the middle made it a little challenging to sew, but after the second one, I got the hang of it! These took almost two hours (with a lot of breaks in between) because I had to figure out how to sew a clean line with all this curves, plus all the pinning and cutting and the hammering the snaps! Lol! It was fun though! John came home for a few hours today and took a look at the stuff I've done and these were his favorite! Most of the fabrics I used were extra from the burp cloths, so I didn't have to spend extra, just bought the snaps at Wal-Mart for $2.99 for 10 non-sew snaps. See the tutorial from the link below! :)

I had to print three different size of the bib pattern. The original size is a bit big and I compared it to the size of the store bought bibdanas we had already. Tutorial said we can scale it down to the size we prefer, so thats what I did. I scaled one down at 95% and at 88%, the 95% one was a perfect fit. It fit around my neck just fine, I think the 88% one would fit a newborn perfectly. I was looking at a few other patterns for the bibs, but wanted to try this one out first. There is another tutorial found here, if anyone wants to try something else. I used both cotton and flannel fabrics, the tutorials suggest you use terry cotton, definitely use something absorbent.

After these two, I was pretty much a pro at this bib making thing. Haha! A friend suggested I could start selling the as well.. But! Good thing I'm not, cuz I know I wont have time to commit to it once baby is here. Plus I'll be working again soon until first week of December, and between work and photography, plus getting all these baby stuff prepped, its definitely enough to keep me busy to help make time pass by a little quicker!

Btw, those snaps were a punk to put on! I couldn't figure it out at first, and didnt realize I needed to hammer it because it came with a little tool. Maybe I should have read the instruction first! Ha! So I was hammering away at 9pm last night trying to get those snaps on! I hope my neighbors didn't hear it! Next on my list, multi-purpose nursing covers, then blankets! I still have to order the fabrics, one of them I'm going to get custom printed on a fabric of choice. I can't wait to see how those turn out! Stay tuned!!

Buying all these gears and baby stuff are already pretty expensive and they all add up. So being able to sew some is not only saving us money, but its fun and rewarding to be able to make things for yourself or your baby! I think if you have time, to definitely try it out! Ive never sewn before until 2 years ago, and I'm still learning, but the more I do it, the more I get excited to tackle on new projects! Between all these, I've already saved a ton! I think Ive spent roughly $55 on all the materials and fabric to make a bunch of things, when a blanket alone that I wanted was $45! So I really think you've got nothing to lose! Just look up what coupons these stores have that week and take advantage of the savings. Plus most of them have good deals in store anyway, and dont forget to check the clearance section and think outside the box! ;]

For more projects and diy's click on the tab titled "Projects/DIY" above!

[So I schedule all these blog post, but forget to hit publish instead of save and when I view my blog I always wonder why it never shows up! 'Hello Jenn! You might wanna hit publish!?" Woops!]

Today's sew fun post features these oh-so easy diy pacifier clips! Remember I mentioned that these bad boys sell for $5.50 each on Etsy? I made these from scrap fabric I had from making burp cloths and bandana bibs! The braided paci clip (very far right) I did sometime last month, I have more of those leather and suede cords in different colors that I will be putting together once I get the sewing madness out of my system! Lol!

So I dont know if you've noticed but there are two different clips: the black round ones and these ones above. I was going to get more of those black ones but at $3.99 for 2, I tried to see if there was another way to do this, and I kept walking and finally saw those Ironing Board fasteners at Jo-Anns for $4.99 and I had a 50% off coupon so $2.50 for 8! I just cut off the garters! Score!! You can also order some on Etsy in different colors and sizes. The one I was looking at was $4.50 for 10, but I wanted to make them now! So I opted for the iron board fasteners, cuz I couldnt wait for shipping!! Impatient, I know. But maybe for the next set I do, since I like the round ones a lot more cuz they come in different colors. Those suede and leather cords I already had, the suede ones I found at Wal-Mart for $4 (a lot cheaper than Michaels!), the leather ones I bought at Michaels a while back for $4(using a 50% coupon, it was original $8, yikes!), and that braided cord was bought at Hancock fabrics for $1 for whole yard! I used them for the ends of the paci clips. As usual, I've linked the tutorial I used above so you can head over there to get the step by steps. :)

So these are the burp cloths and paci "sets" ive done. I've made a few gift ones for a friend who's also expecting this winter! Stay tuned for the bandana bibs (bibdanas) that I have been working on as well. I'll be sewing a lot this week because John will be away, so I cant wait to share those with everyone!

So this isn't project nursery related so I had to figure out another category for this, since I started with Sew Fun as the title of the other post I did, I figured i'd continue with it. Today post is on the DIY Burp Cloth I made. Sewing has been addicting this past week. I haven't sewed this much since, I cant even remember! When I said I was on a roll, I meant it! The past few mornings, after I do my morning routines, I take an hour or so to do some sewing. I've looked around for affordable burp cloths and pacifier clips that I really liked. One burp cloth that I liked was about $13 for a pack of 3 or 4 and a custom made paci clip on Etsy runs from $5.50+ each! So one morning I thought, "let me just go ahead and try and make them!" So I went to my handy dandy go-to: Pinterest to find some inspos!

The burp cloth tutorial I went off of is from the link above, and then just adjusted to my liking. Below are images of materials and fabrics I used. I bought my fabrics from Jo-Ann's through sales and discounts as well as Wal-Mart's fabrics section.

I mustve been back and forth at Jo-Ann's fabric this whole week taking advantage of their sales plus 2 50% of coupons one regular price item, and a 20% off your entire purchase. I didnt know you can use them all at the same time! So I came back another day and bought more materials for whatever else I was planning on making!! I wont bore you with the steps since I provided the link above. I swear its that simple! I also finally purchased a cutting board using a coupon of course! ;) So i got that big 'ol board for $12! Its making cutting a lot quicker cuz I can finally put the rotary cutter I bought a while back to good use!

This is my arts & crafts/sewing area in our office. I'm in the process of re-organizing some stuff and getting more drawers to put under the table because items keep getting added on! As you can see, I have a pretty basic Singer sewing machine. I have yet to learn what all the other functions are in this machine. Slowly, but surely! I just figured out another pattern for the thread part and I was pretty amazed by it! Haha!

So I ended up not using one of the original fabrics and added that Mickey one I got from Hancock Fabrics! This was a whole different trip! I was literally at the fabric stores 4 times this past week! John was laughing at me at some point because he said I was addicted. No sir, just making sure I took advantage of all the good coupons this week! He actually joined me on one of the trips. Anyways, Hancock had a 20% off your entire purchase coupon. So I went over there after thinking of more things I can sew up! I went straight for the clearance section and was oh so happy to find exactly the fabric and design I was looking for! I found a bunch of fabrics, mostly on clearance or the remnant section! Stay tuned for those! ;) I found a yard of Minky fabric for $3, normally $14.99 a yard! And it was just the color I needed for the blanket I'm making. Now I have two minky fabrics! I bought a bunch of jersey knits for $3/yd, and a striped jersey knit for $4 for 1.5 yards! It was definitely a good day!

Oh! And remember that 'compass' inspired pillow I tried to draw out the other day? Yeah, I ended up re-doing the case and had John draw it out for me instead. He's a perfectionist so I knew it was gonna turn out a lot better than mine! Luckily, i had enough extra fabric to make another pillow case! Whew! Im using the old one as a rag because the sharpie scent was giving me a headache! I ended up purchasing a fabric marker since we plan on making a wall banner for the nursery. And this time, I will NOT attempt to do any of the writing/drawing, leaving those to John!

See how much better it looks now than it did a few days ago? See previous tutorial here. It was really bugging me! I'm so glad John could save the day! Lol! After it dried and we put the pillow on it he was all "Damn! it looks store bought! I wonder who did that?" Haha! Silly goose!

6 Different types of fabric - If you're buying by the yard, a quarter is fine, you can use a quarter to make couple burp cloths or use it for other projects like a pacifier clip ;) - Price varied: as low as $0.25 - $2.00.

4 1/4 in x 17in cardboard - I used a cereal box, but after the third one, I just winged it and didnt use the card board anymore - FREE! ;p

I finally got some rest this week, well compared to last week! I'm still not getting a full 8 hours, but its better than 3-4 hours! Im not going to do my usual weekly update this week because I am out of energy at the moment, plus we gotta wake up at 430am for a sunrise maternity session! I just had to post a quick bump picture for the week!

John and I finally hit the pool together this summer, just when its about to close! It sprinkled on us for a bit, but it lasted for about 10 minutes. There was only three other families out that day and it wasn't scorching hot! It felt weird because once I got in the water its like all the weight from my tummy disappeared! We swam for 45 minutes before calling a day cuz I still had to make dinner!

This week, I've been on a baby crafting and sewing roll! Once I get inspirations, I cant stop! So I've been back and forth at Jo-Ann's, Hancock Fabrics and even Walmart for fabrics and whatever materials I need. I cant wait to blog about them! I've already posted about the first part of my 'Sew Fun' posts! Stay tuned for more! It's giving me something to do, especially because John will be a way for a few days because of work! So i'll have all my crafty, diy stuff and editing pictures to keep me occupied til he gets back!

We also tested out the wrap that I got a few days ago. I think I did pretty good for the first time trying it! It was a lot easier than I thought! I love it! John on the other hand, tried to imitate my pose! Silly goose!

After looking through Etsy and other websites numerous times for changing pad covers and decorative pillows, I have decided to take the plunge and sew my own! Most of the ones I really liked on Etsy are well over $30! Seriously!? Why so expensive? Haha! Since John has fixed my sewing machine the other day, I went to Joann's Fabric recently and bought fabrics! I bought one for a changing pad cover, two pillow cases, a banner type wall art I plan on doing, three fabrics for the hot air balloon mobile John wants to make, and baby blanket. After discounts and a coupon, I spent $25 for all these fabrics! If only Joann's fabric had more designs that I really liked would be more convenient because I could use coupons and I wouldn't have to pay for shipping! I did find some patterns that would work well in the nursery. As soon as I got home, I threw all the fabric in the washer, dried them, and ironed them so they'll be ready for me to work on the next day!

Pillow Case Covers:

I went ahead and started doing these first because I've done several of them before! These are easy peasy! If you guys didn't know, Im not an expert when it comes to sewing! Im very much a beginner! I got 1/2 a yard of the Mutli-Expedition Map fabric and 1 yard of that natural colored muslin. I got a yard of the muslin because I will be using some of the left over fabric for the wall banner I'm making. I already had extra pillows laying around the house so it was perfect! For the muslin one, I decided to draw out a compass, sorta. I just used a sharpie. Ghetto fab! I didnt have black fabric paint! Im not very artistic so I kept it simple. It's not perfect. I made the arrows to wide. Woops! But it'll do!

Total cost for both: $7.00

DIY Pillow Case Tutorial found here. -- This tutorial was the easiest I found, no need for zippers!

Changing Pad Cover:

As I've mentioned, we repurposed a dresser that was going serve as a changing table as well. I purchased the changing pad from Babies R Us (off our registry) this past weekend and needed a cover. I know they sell some in store, but none that caught my attention. I wasn't sure what pattern I was going to find at Joann's for it, but I wanted something cheap to try out since I've never made it before. Now that I know how to make it, I might splurge on a pricier fabric with the design I like! It still beats paying $40+ for custom made ones on etsy! When I can find fabrics in the patterns I like for $9-15. I made this one just a tad to tight. I ended up buying 1.25 yards, bad idea because I needed a 48" x 32" of fabric! I only had 44" x 35" at least now I know! So I'm definitely going to be making a few more! It took me about an hour to make this only because I had one of those pregnancy brain moments where I couldn't figure out how she ironed the flaps for the elastic! Once I figured it out, I was like "duh Jenn!"

Knowing how to make something as simple as these really saved me a lot of money! I am still so glad John got me that sewing machine for Valentines day 5 years ago! It took me a while to finally put it to use, but once I figured out how to use it, it was a game changer! I even taught John how to use the sewing machine so that he can sew on his own patches for his uniform! Now I never have to do it again! He's actually pretty good at it!

The shipping was quick! We ordered the wrap on Sunday and it was delivered today! I was scrolling through my Instagram and saw that they were having a sale, and ya'll know me, I try and buy discounted as much as possible!! This wrap was on our registry and I was joking around with my Mom to buy it for me, and she actually said go ahead and order it and she'll pay for it! This was also the same time my parents said they'd buy the crib and mattress for us! Actually, my mom said make a list of things and she'll send money in September! Ahh! They're pretty amazing! This helps us a lot because I'm currently not working, aside from photography gigs, but that isn't enough to live off of, yet! And I don't go back to subbing until mid-Sept! Anyway, I couldn't wait to unbox my wrap! I have yet to try it out (with a teddy, of course).

I love the stripes!!! The mint colored one was sold out during the sale, but its okay cuz this Slate-Stripe one was the one on my registry! I'll probably try and practice wrapping around me sometime soon and have John test it out too! Its gonna be so weird seeing him with a wrap, but he already agreed that he'd be a baby wearing Dada! The packaging for Happy Baby Wrap is so adorable!! The box and the matching pouch is pretty awesome! We opted for this one and took the Moby out of our registry because it was recommended to me by a few Mamas that has used it with their own babies. I love that its lightweight and organic bamboo! It'll definitely be good for the summer! The Moby bamboo one was just a tad bit more expensive and they didn't have as much style and color to choose from! Another thing that caught my attention was that they donate 10% of their profits to charities that provide assistance to children and mommies all over the globe! So its a win, win! I get a cute stylish looking wrap while being able to help give back! :]

Ok, ok! So this next picture isn't about the Happy wrap, but I wanted to talk about how freaking awesome it was that I found this Ju-Ju-Be - Queen of the Nile - BFF diaper bag at Navy Exchange for a really good deal!! Retail for these babies are $180! I always thought I'd buy a 'designer' diaper bag like Michael Kors or Tory Burch, but lets be real, having a baby is already expensive, so I had to get that out of my thoughts! I also didn't want a plain 'ol Jane! John & I have been back and forth at the NEX in hopes that a new BFF bag would be in stock because they once had The Admiral there and I missed out on it! I had this bag and The Commodore in our registry, so I was so stoked to find it for such a good deal!! So far, I have not paid full retail prices for any of the Ju-Ju-Be items I currently own, and this bag makes 4! I really really would like The Commodore still because it'll go perfectly with my Admiral Super Star (hospital) bag, fuel cell and paci pod! I'm still on the look out and if I find it, I'll return this. Luckily the NEX gives us 45 days! If not, I'll sell it!

Why did we decide on a JuJuBe? One, it was the first diaper bag that John actually agreed on! He first saw it when we were on our trip to San Francisco 2 months ago. It was a Toki Doki one, as cute as those were, I wasnt a fan of it! John liked the same ones I liked from the Legacy collection, so it was an easy choice! I considered his input because he'll be carrying it as well! I loved the materials used, feels nice and sturdy! The lining on the inside is nice and light in color which makes it easier to spot things when digging through the bag! It converts from a messenger back to a backpack! So, I'll probably convert them into a camera bag in the future or something! Either way, I'm one happy mommy-to-be and can not wait to actually put these to use!!

Another diaper bag I have my eye on is the Fawn Designs - The Doe in black! It looks just like a regular purse (that converts into a backpack as well). Its faux leather, but I dont need real leather to carry baby items (atleast thats what I like to tell myself). Its a cheaper route to the Lily Jade one I was also eyeing! Sigh, I swear there are so many baby products out there to choose from!

Current Cravings: Its varied lately! But one thing that hasn't changed since I got pregnant is the need to eat cereal between 2-4 am! I've never eaten this much cereal before, Honey Bunches of Oats to be specific!Weight gain/lost: It was fluctuating actually. Last week I gained an extra 3 lbs, this week I lost 2. Maybe its the lack of good rest/sleep or it could be the time of day that I weighed myself this week. The Bump: Is definitely still there and growing! Sometimes I dont feel like its getting any bigger until John comes home from duty days and says "your tummy grew!" or after we do our bi-weekly bump pictures! I definitely feel bigger at the end of the day after consuming all of the food and water!

Movements: Weirdly enough, I wasnt getting as much movements from him earlier in the week! It worried me! Before Id feel him all day, but from Monday-Wed I barely felt him, but he's back to his normal self now! Maybe its me being sleep deprived. He figured one of us had to get some rest! ;]

Sleep: None. None at all! Ok, ok.. maybe 3-4 hours tops most of this week! It was very very frustrating that by the 5th night I finally broke down and cried at 2am! It mightve freaked out John a little bit because he woke and went downstairs with me til I finished crying and ate my cereal! Poor guy had to be up at 5am for work! When we got back up stairs he rubbed my back and off to sleep I went for a good 4 hours! Today was the first day I actually got about 6 hours this whole week. Its getting there! I thought insomnia didn't hit til third trimester, but pregnancy does differ from woman to woman!

Looking Forward To: finishing the nursery! We got started on putting furniture in it yesterday and now Im just so eager to get it done, but I know we wont get it all done now!

Meaningful moments: Putting the dresser we repurposed in the nursery! It was the first official item in there! And sitting in the room with John just admiring what we had so far and talking about baby stuff got us both filled with so much joy and excitement! I love sharing these little moments with John. Just us two (sometimes Pax) sitting quietly in the room, because in a few months we'll have a crying baby in the house! lol!

Dada's Thoughts:So finally finished the dresser for babies nursery and moved all the old furniture upstairs. It's coming together really nice, baby's room be pimpin'. I'm actually really jealous, his room is freaking awesome, like Pinterest awesome, no.. like Houzz awesome. I don't know if it's the nesting stage or just our excitement, but no matter how tired I am, I find whatever energy I have to work on the nursery. I think whatever energy I'm finding to work on the nursery is coming from Momma. She seems super exhausted all day, but no matter how tired she is, she has trouble sleeping at night. I think baby also found his schedule, and that may be conflicting with Momma. He's up and moving around while Momma sleeps and while she's up and about, baby is sleeping. I wonder what babies dream about when they sleep?

After what felt like forever of searching and failed attempts, I couldn't believe we found the perfect one and our vision for the nursery was becoming more real! From the get go, we knew we didn't want anything bulky and preferred something sleek and not too heavy for the dresser and this mid-century dresser was just the perfect find! I have pinned a bunch of dresser inspiration before on Pinterest to go off of way before I was even pregnant and when I started searching I wasn't going to settle. Most of the adventure/travel themed nursery I was gushing over had a sleek or mid-century style dresser turned changing tables. I knew they were out there, I just had to find the right one for the right price! So, I went through thrift stores, craigslist and offer up for weeks! I've found 3 that I really liked but someone else would beat me to it! These bad boys sell out quick! I was even looking into getting something brand new from Ikea! Luckily when we went, the dresser I wanted was sold out (the Tarva) and the other one (the Hemnes) was out of the price range I was going for. I set a budget of $100 for the dresser, but scored ours for $40 on this phone app called OfferUp!! FOREALS? I was so happy! So was John, he's always so proud of me when I get good deals, saves him money! Lol! For any thrifters, that app is addicting! I had to do a little begging and convincing that we should get it because another person was already going to buy the set! The pregnant card worked! She ended up choosing me! I was at Target when she messaged me and squealed out loud! Ha! I was originally suppose to buy her set of 3 dressers but we have a Kia Sorento and all three would not fit, so I settled and bought two of them instead ($40 each). Im putting one for the new guest room were preparing. So excited! These dressers after it has been repurposed sells for well over $200, and some non repurposed one sell for $100+! This was so meant to be, it matches really well with one of the cribs we have added on our registry!!

Ok lets get to the revamping of this dresser! First and foremost, before I put anything Ive thrifted in the house I make sure they get cleaned and sanitized in the garage, and this was no exception! The lady that sold it to us must of wiped some type of wood shiner on it because it was pretty grimey! It was in great condition, drawers were clean but the outside was just oily! So I got the handy dandy magic eraser out, some water and vinegar to clean and get the old musty drawer smell out! I didn't even need the ground coffee because the vinegar alone got the stench out! After cleaning the drawers with vinegar, I laid them out in the sun for a few hours before putting them back in the garage and it was ready to be worked on the next day.

I've been seeing a lot of Chalk Paint recipes on Pinterest so I wanted to try out myself! The only thing bought was the Plaster of Paris (Home Depot) and that brush set from Dollar Tree (yup, im cheap!), everything else we had around the house. John mixed the ingredients and off we started!

After begging a few times, he finally let me help. He was very hesitant, as any first-time daddy would be! But I reassured him that I researched it and got advice that it was okay as long as I'm in a well ventilated area. Ive seen a lot of mommies paint nurseries during their pregnancy! I had the fan and garage door opened and wore a mask and gloves to help ease his mind a bit! I painted the drawers while he did the dresser. We didn't need to strip or sand it, unlike the other dressers and wood furnitures we've redone, the chalk paint coverage was amazeballs! We did two coats of it before calling it a night! Took us about 2 hours give or take with having to wait in between for the paint to dry off. Which was fine because I was able to cook dinner during the wait time! Oh! My apologies, our garage is a mess! Its been tooo hot to clean out and re-organize!

This was the next day and before we added Minwax's Polycrilyc on it! I went back and forth on either waxing or using polycrilyc for it because most chalk painted furnitures I've looked up used wax, and then I found a blog that said to use polycrilyc for high-traffic furnitures. Well, since this was going to be used as a changing table as well, I knew which one I had to do. I ended up just heading to Walmart to buy a quart of it because we only had Polyutherane at home, and since this furniture is white, I didn't want it turning yellow! I bout the Clean Satin finish and it the shine was perfect! Not too glossy just how I wanted it! The dresser definitely looked a whole lot better, almost brand new! I decided to leave the foot of the dresser untouched to give it a more vintage-modern look with wood exposed like that. Gives it a little bit of character! Normally we would distress them, but I wanted to leave it just the way it was. Now to add drawer knobs/pulls or not? Hm. We might have to because some the bottom drawers get stuck and is hard to pull out!

After letting the poly dry overnight, it was ready to be cleaned again and the drawer liners put in! I worked on this earlier today for almost 3 hours (on and off) and by the end of it my back and butt was hurting from sitting on the floor! That gray and white stripe is a gift wrap paper I got at Home Goods for another project I did last year. It was a changing table turned bar (ironically) and used it to line the shelves and I had some left over but not enough to cover all the drawers. I ended up buying a plain white drawer liners. Its laminate and adhesive which made it easier for me! The gift wraps I had to use mod podge to stick them on.

I still cannot believe we have the first official furniture in the nursery! As soon as John got home and saw that the drawers were done, he went upstairs and moved the mattress from the old guestroom to the new one on the third floor. I had no idea what he was doing until I went upstairs to an empty guestroom nursery! He brought the dresser in and I almost cried! We also put up some other things in the nursery and moved one of our old chairs that we may turn into a glider in the room and we were filled with so much emotion at how our visions for the nursery is slowly coming together. We literally sat in the nursery for 30 minutes just admiring what we had in there so far before getting started on dinner. I don't want to post it just yet! But we are so excited to get it together! Slowly, but surely! Now we just need the months to pass a little quicker so we can have our baby boy home with us!! :)

Chalk Paint Recipe (there are many different recipes, but this recipe is what I used):
2 Cup Paint (left over from the mural)
1/3 Plaster of Paris ($6 at Home Depot)
2 TBS Water

Just mix together! Enjoy! Used 2 coats of Minwax Polycrilyc to finish it off and voila!

We've done a lot of projects for the house when we first moved in and we still do, and occasionally people ask me to blog or vlog about them. I dont know why I never did! Well, here's a start!

I spend a lot of time in the future nursery, mostly in the morning after breakfast. Once a week I'll go in there grab a book and sit on the floor and read this little babe a book. Today, after I read I went in his closet to adore his cute little itsy bitsy baby clothes and picked out a few favorites and laid it on the bed. This baby is OOTD (outfit of the day) ready! These, to me, are so timeless and classic. That paper boy hat and suspenders is a must for a little boy's wardrobe! I can't wait to dress him up. He'll definitely look so much better than his mama, but lets be real, all the attention will go to him anyway! ;]

-- I saw this jumpsuit the first time I ever checked out this place (this was my second visit), and when I saw it was still there, I knew I had to have it. I texted John a picture and he agreed! This was originally $8.50 but I had a discount. I bought three other items that day only costing me $15 for all the outfits I bought. I know baby stuff can get expensive and most of the time they dont even get to wear most of the clothes they have as an infant, so I try to shop around at consignment stores. So far I've gotten lucky and found really good items, some of them with tags still! Score!!

-- This is two separate pieces that was bought separately. We found the shorts at Babies R Us on the clearance rack and it was an addition 20% off, the top we bought at H&M for $10. Normally I wouldn't buy it at regular price but it was too cute to let go, plus John insisted cuz he loved the collar and stripes. The hat I already had for my newborn collection. I also bought it at a consignment store a few years ago. Worked out perfectly!

-- I've been eyeing moccasins since I got pregnant! They are the cutest ever! I was originally looking at Freshly Picked but it was too pricey for my liking. Im sure quality is better, but why am I gonna spend $40 for something the baby will outgrow very quickly! I was scrolling through the Instagram explore when I discovered the Love Winnie James page and instantly started following them! I plan on getting another color in a Medium just cant decide yet! Shoes are originally $15 but I bought it when they had a flash sale. I purposely waited for a sale! Lol!

Im sure Im not the only one who loves to bargain shop for their babies! I mean unless you've got ton of money and can afford to splurge on your babies, but nope, not I! ;]

Insomnia wins. Get as much sleep as you can now before baby's arrival, they said. Well, its 3:30 a.m. and I am wide awake. It has been like this for the past three nights. I'll go to bed my usual time which is 11 pm, but by 1:45 or 2:30 am I am up, both nights I had to get up to use the bathroom, but tonight Im up for no reason. Its frustrating cuz I wont fall back asleep til 4 or 5 am! I'll toss and turn and eventually Ill get up to go downstairs to eat cereal before falling back asleep. I feel so restless, but I cant nap during the day either. Sigh. I mean its no big deal because I dont have to get up at 6am for work or anything at the moment, but goodness gracious! Can I just sleep?!

Thats how I feel about not being able to get good sleep! :P My eyes feel so heavy but as soon as I lay down and try to sleep, my mind suddenly wont shut up! Im just blabbering now because Im so tired and Im hoping this will help me get even sleepier! Also one thing that has been on my mind is the fact that for the past couple of days baby boy hasn't been as active. Normally, he's kicking up a storm in my tummy at night. Lately, Id just feel little movements. I know that my day to day activities and me moving around rocks him to sleep during the day. But come night time, I expect a lot of movements. I guess its just been worrying me and I know I shouldn't be. What I'll do is rub and poke him, and then lay of my left side for a bit and usually works. I'll feel or see him kick it and then Im okay again. This little one already has me worried! Oh the joys of pregnancy! I think no matter how much of a positive mindset I try to have, i'll never avoid being a worry wart!

Sigh. I finally purchased black out curtains for the bedroom a few days ago, now Im just waiting for John to put it up for me. I can't wait! It'll be bad because then I'd probably stay in bed 'til noon, and I normally don't like doing that because my day is wasted, but if it helps, i'll take it!

We didn't get a chance to take a bump picture this week so Im using one from our trip recently. This was just a day before I was officially 21 weeks, so I guess it counts.

Baby Size: Baby Bok Choy

Current Cravings: Spicy! I know its bad, but I have been craving Korean bbq/food! Oh! & Raisinets, weird cuz I hardly ever ate them before! I dont know how I even started craving it, but Ive bought two of those movie theater box size already! =X Weight gain/lost: I have gained an extra 3 lbs since last week. I was at 110 at my doctors appointment, I weighed my self earlier and I was at almost 113! I would say some of those weight went to my breast (thank you boobie gods! lol) John doesnt mind one bit? ;] The rest is most like placenta/fluids and whatever I just ate. I dont look pregnant from behind. I've always wanted to be one of those Mamas that didnt looked pregnant but as soon as they turned sideways its like 'BAM!' Ha!The Bump: I officially feel pregnant. John says I've got the waddle down like Charlie Brown! Haha! I dont even notice myself waddling. However, I still have days ill get dressed and I look the same as I did pre-pregnancy, just a tad bloated. Which I'm not complaining at all about.

Movements: He's starting to be more active at night and I can feel him higher up in my tummy area. There was one time where I thought I felt him kick my ribs, but I doubt it though. I love feeling him move, even though it keeps me up at night. Its such a reassuring feeling to know he's wiggling away in my tums!

Looking Forward To: Fall! I'm over this heat! Summers out here is definitely not like ones in San Diego! Since moving here, Fall has easily become my favorite season! The colors, trends, crisp air, cool breeze.. everything! I mean it was always in my top two, Spring being the first, but now Fall has taken its place! I can't wait to be able to put my hair down again without feeling too hot or sticky around my neck. My hair has been up in a bun for most of the summer months.

Meaningful moments: Sitting in what would be baby's future nursery and tears rolling down cuz its slowly hitting me that in just a few short months, we'll have a baby living in this house. OH! & Reading to him for the first time. I read 'Guess How Much I Love You' aloud while rubbing my belly and sitting on the floor of his nursery! I felt little kicks, it was the best feeling in the world!

Dada's thoughts: So I'm actually starting to see baby move now, pretty soon he'll be doing backflips in momma's belly (Momma's gonna love that ;]). It's good to know that baby boy is active, we're saying he's going to come out of momma high kicking like Karate Kid. So Momma seems to be getting up early, sometimes before me just to eat cereal (weirdo). I wish I was that dedicated to breakfast, but I'm way too tired that early in the morning, I could barely get up to take a shower. Her back is also starting to hurt, a result of a growing baby in side her belly. I feel real bad that her back is hurting, but I think I'm more happy that baby is getting bigger. -Dada

Re-doing the closet was the second major thing we did for the nursery aside from painting the mural. I feel like we started on the nursery way too soon, but I thought about it and why not now? Because I'll eventually get bigger and I'll run out of energy a lot quicker again. Now is the best time to work on any "big" nursery projects, while I still have all this energy! As always John and I went back and forth on how we wanted to do it. We both had individual visions and plans set, but of course, mine always wins (most of the time)! ;] We used to have a wire shelf with the ability to hang clothes and I didnt like that. I knew wanted shelving and have been browsing through Pinterest for ideas and saw one I really liked. Of course they used an Ikea shelving, and with Ikea being 2.5 hours away from us, I knew I had to figure out another way. When we were at Home Depot buying paint, we made a quick stop at the Storage/Closet organization isle, and lo & behold, I found exactly what I wanted. A week later, I went to Home Depot and purchased it! Of course I couldn't set it up myself, so I had to wait til John got home from work. This project only caused us $85 (the closet kit and some paint putty), everything else we already had!

After getting the shelf out, it left us with a bunch of holes, so we had to take a quick drive to the hardware store to grab Painter's Putty to cover them up. We didnt get to painting it til the next day cuz we had to wait for the putty to dry. Surprisingly, John let me help paint... for like 5 minutes! What a worry-wart! We had plenty of paint left over from the mural that John just mixed the paints we had to create the grey I wanted. I believe he mixed Behr's Almond Wisp & Antique Tin (with a drop of Ultra Pure White). We didnt have to buy more paint so we made use of what we had. We let the paint dry over-night before getting started on installing the closet!

Pax is like, 'Whats dada up to now Ma?' Lately we've been spending a lot of time in this room and he's probably wondering why! So nosy bubby!

John ended up having to cut the rods because our closet wasn't long enough. He also made a few minor errors, but I won't call him out on it because it bugged him the entire time! Thats what happens when you get too ahead of yourself mister! BUT! The finish product was just what I envisioned for babyboy's closet! So I'm not complaining at all! Now I think I wanna re-do our closet!

Tada!! So the picture on the left was that same night John completed it. After he cleaned up, I immediately started hanging baby's clothes and before I realized it, John was helping style the shelving area for picture purposes! He knows me too well. ;) I knew I didnt want to leave the shelves open and wanted to either put baskets or bins. We took a trip up north over the weekend and went to Ikea, but I didnt find anything I liked or they were too pricey! So I took a trip to TJ Maxx and Target, no luck there either. Lastly, I ended up at Walmart. I found those bins for $5 each and they matched perfectly! I just ended up adding using tags for labels. Of course things are still going to be moved around, but we just shoved most of the baby stuff in the closet for the meantime. Next up, dresser turned changing table! I have been on the hunt for 3 weeks! Wish me luck!

Materials Used:

1. Closetmaid Selectives in 16" @ Home Depot - $80 (w/ discount)

2. Paint Putty to cover holes @ Wal Mart - $5

3. Behr's: Almond Wisp, Antique Tin & Ultra White on White to get the

grey mixture for the wall (left over from previous project)

I'll get into more details on whats in the closet when I do the 'How I organized" the closet. :]

Since we were already up north for the weekend we figured we'd take a quick hiking trip at Great Falls Park. Its about a 20 minute drive outside of the Washington, DC area. It was 25 minutes from where we were staying in Fairfax. We got a late start to our day because we were both so tired from the night before that we didn't get up til 8:30, then had breakfast before getting ready. We got to Great Falls around 11, and it was about a 40 minute wait just to get into the parking lot! So be prepared to wait! We saw a sign that it was a $10 per vehicle fee, then remembered that the Annual Pass for all National Parks were free for military, so of course I made John ask about it! ;] We got a pass 2 years ago when we hiked at Shenandoah National Park, and was only able to use it twice that year. We hope to be able to use this more than twice this time around, with baby boy in tow next Spring/Summer! We started our hike at 11:50, luckily it was a little cloudy and the trails were covered with trees so it wasn't so overwhelmingly hot for me. I forgot to bring my sunblock too! Woops!

There are several different trails to choose from and we chose an easier and shorter path so that I wouldn't have to over work myself. We did the Matildaville, where the ruins and history of the place were, and cut through the River Trail. What was cool about this trail was that there were a history behind them as well. Matildaville used to be a small little town back in the 1700's and now when you walk through the trails you'll see some of the ruins. It was a little history lesson for us along the way. The trails we took weren't so bad, a lot of straight, flat paths with little up and down. It got a little rocky when we crossed over to the River Trail, but it wasn't too bad for my pregnant self!

I think being pregnant shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying some time out. Although you are limited to what you can do, I think its still healthy for you to get outdoors as much as possible. You just have to have some common sense, obviously you wouldn't want to do any extreme activities like rock climbing and rafting whilst 21 weeks pregnant! Growing up I always thought that life pauses when you become pregnant, but it shouldnt. My advice for any first time pregnant mommas is that as long as your healthy and you consult your OB with your activities, and they give you the okay to do so, then don't be afraid. Just listen to your body because you know your body more than anyone. If you feel tired, dont be afraid to just take a breather and sit, drink plenty of water, always bring snacks like nuts and fruits. Take as many breaks as you want, I sure did. Dont over do it though. John's my constant reminder to slow down and he's always making sure I'm okay. As soon as I felt my body slowing down, I sat and just enjoyed the view and my surroundings. It was fun!

This path I was walking on used to be a canal back in the 1700-1800!

Baby boy was bouncing around in my tummy while we hiked! I think he enjoyed it too! I did get a few stares (& smiles) from older people we passed by and occasionally here whispers of "aww is she pregnant? how cute!" from younger girls as we pass them by. The trail we were on took us about 2 hours to finish because we'd stop and read the signs and I had to take breaks. It was neat because while we ate there were some paddle boarders and kayaker that was passing by in the river and you can see the trails from the Maryland side of the park. It was crazy to think the only thing that was separating the two states between us was the Potomac River! Pretty cool, to be at two places at once... almost! ;]

I was a little scared while sitting on this rock. It was at the edge of the cliffs and as soon as I looked down (bad idea), I freaked a little! I'm not normally afraid of heights so I don't know why I was so freaked out! John had to grab my hand to help me off the edge! I didn't wanna show it, but I was terrified! Haha! There were several rock climbers on the cliffs not too far from us! I definitely want to try that next time! You can also go rafting at this park. There's an area where you water flow pretty heavily! Oh the adrenaline! On our way to the Overlook, we spotted a deer in the middle of the woods, and of course John busted out my 70-300mm lens and attached it to his camera to get a better close up of it!

This deer was probably 10 ft away from us! My sister would have enjoyed this, she's a deer lover! lol

See the people on the right side of that last picture? Those are the people standing at the Overlook in the Maryland's side! Look how tiny they look! Anyway, these waterfalls is where the rafters would start! It was at this time that I started to feel light headed because we were no longer in the woods and the sun was beaming so hot and bright! There were three overlooks, by the third one, I had to sit it out and just sit in the shade while John snapped pictures. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Visitor Center because we were gonna stop by Ikea prior to heading home, so instead of buying food outside of the park, we decided to just eat a good meal once we got to Woodbridge.

We ended our trip up north at Ikea! I hate how its two hours away from us so whenever we head up to DC or NoVa, we try and make a quick stop at Ikea! The dresser we wanted to for the nursery was sold out! So we just bought little stuff like hanging book shelf, lamp, and other household goodies! Now to clean up the nursery since we've gotten the closet make-over done, so I can finally visual everything I plan on putting in there! Stay tuned for that post! ;]

The Hugos

"Life with you is my favorite adventure."

This blog is a collection of our adventures in life -- A travel and lifestyle blog. It consists of everything and anything from our trips, parenthood & the ins and outs of being first-time parents, tutorials and projects, and everything else in between.